King James Bible [Acts 5:29] Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.

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Obama Gives Faith Groups One Year to Comply With Contraceptive Mandate

CitizenLink

by Karla Dial

Despite a months-long lobbying effort waged by faith-based organizations — and close scrutiny from the media — the Obama administration announced Friday it will not allow religious groups an exemption from a federal health care law mandating that all employers provide insurance that covers contraceptive devices and drugs.

Instead, the White House gave faith-based groups an extra year to comply with the mandate, instead of the Aug. 1, 2012 deadline all secular employers are facing.

And that means religious employers who find contraception and possible abortifacient drugs to be immoral have only one year to decide whether to follow the law, or the dictates of their faith.

“This mandate drives up health care costs and is perniciously targeted at religious providers, who selflessly and compassionately serve the poorest and most vulnerable,” U.S. Rep. Jeff Fortenberry (R-NE), said in a statement. “Under this rule, within a year, religiously affiliated medical providers would have to fire and refuse to treat persons of other faiths in order to uphold their own deeply held beliefs — or be forced …to close their doors rather than violate tents of their religion. This is forced discrimination. This is wrong. No American should be forced to choose between their faith and their job.”

Fortenberry is the sponsor of a bill — HR 1179 — that would ensure religious health care providers, such as Catholic hospitals, are able to practice both their professions and their faith simultaneously. Since Friday, several pro-life groups have been calling on constituents to support the bill, which was introduced last year and has 97 cosponsors.

Obama and Kathleen Sebelius kissing

U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said Friday that all “FDA-approved” contraceptive measures should be available to every woman nationwide, free of charge — so everyone will have a share of bearing the cost of subsidizing them, regardless of moral or religious beliefs. The only exception is for religious organizations that employ and treat only members of their own faith.

“Women will not have to forego these services because of expensive co-pays or deductibles, or because an insurance plan doesn’t include contraceptive devices,” she wrote in a statement. “This decision was made after very careful consideration, including the important concerns some have raised about religious liberty. I believe this proposal strikes the appropriate balance between respecting religious freedom and increasing access to important preventive services.”

Faith groups, however, don’t see it that way at all.

“Freedom of conscience is a sacred gift from God, not a grant from the state,” said Galen Carey, vice president for government relations at the National Association of Evangelicals. “”No government has the right to compel its citizens to violate their conscience. The HHS rules trample on our most cherished freedoms and set a dangerous precedent.

“If this narrow definition of ‘religious employer’ is adopted in other areas of law, it may lead to further erosion of the conscience protections Americans have historically held.”

Watchwoman on the Wall

by Donna Calvin

Shouting from the rooftops, proclaiming warning to a sleeping nation, Donna offers her unique perspective on current events

Disclaimer

Some items on Beliefnet may not reflect the views of Doers of the Word Church, Pastor Ernie Sanders, and “What’s Right, What’s Left, the Voice of the Christian Resistance,” all of whom promote this Watchwoman on the Wall blog on their web site < www.WRWL.org> and radio program. The Bible-based, conservative call-in talk radio program can be heard 10 PM-12 midnight, M-F on Salem Christian Radio Network, Cleveland’s powerful 50,000 watt radio station on the dial at 1220 AM & 1440 AM – and over the Internet worldwide at www.WRWL.org. Donna Calvin is a frequent co-host of “What’s Right, What’s Left.” The pro-life, conservative, non-compromising, King James only, Christian program, hosted by Pastor Ernie Sanders, has been airing for over 40 years and has over 6 million listeners.”

Donna Calvin

In sixth grade my teacher told us that we were going to be the first generation to see the year 2000 and all things would be different. He continued that God wasn't important, wasn't real, and our parents just used God to impose restrictions on us because they were inadequate to parent effectively. I knew then I was going to be involved in a war and that I would have to be in Jesus Christ's Army. Even then, I knew the United States of America would cease to exist without the vast majority of its citizens voluntarily submitting to the Perfect and Good Laws of the Holy Bible. I am a woman who loves the Lord Jesus Christ. I am tired of seeing our LORD denigrated from the school house to the White House. I search the Internet for items that ought to serve as a warning to Americans and Christians all through America, but the nation seems to be sleeping. Wake up America! You are losing your freedoms, your children and your country. Wake up and help stop it!